- Describe the following characters - Chief, Nurse Rachet, McMurphy - only include elements of their apprearance if there is a significance to their personality or motivation. Attempt to look into their character.
Example: Nurse Ratchet - enters the story with the narrator stating "she slides through the door with a gust of cold" (10). I believe the word cold represents her. She seems very matter of fact and has little concern for the patients.
- Why does Kesey use the character of Chief as the narrator?
- What is the purpose of the Log Book? What does it tell you about what goes on in the institution?
Read pages 29 - 70 for Thursday
14 comments:
Nurse Ratched is the head nurse who pretty much rules with an iron fist. She may carry a purse, but she is not feminine by any means. She is impersonal and is two faced-one minute smiling but the next reprimanding the men around her. She seems to be un-human and acts with icy cold precision.
Chief seems to be shy and unassuming. He wants to get his work done and to be left alone. He also seems to have the most experience within the hospital and goes on ignored. He pretends to be stupid and deaf but really is in on everything that happens.
McMurphy is the "new guy". He adds a new flair to the ward and swaggers around like he owns the place. He is liek the bad boy rebel that refuses to conform to the rules and to play along with Nurse Ratched's little games.
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Kesey uses the character of Chief Bromden to be narrator of the novel because he is the most experienced patient in the ward, having been there the longest. He is also the observer which makes him the source for information. He is the eyes and ears of the hospital and is always aware of what is going on even though he plays dumb.
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The purpose of the log book is to allow Nurse Ratched to be in constant surveillance and control of the patients in the ward. She has encouraged the "acutes" to spy on themselves; listening for juicy tid bits and useful information. The first man to write what they know in the log book is rewarded by being able to sleep longer. This shows how corrupt the hospital is and how Nurse Ratched desires to have power and to be in constant control.
Lydia~
The narrator of the story is Chief. He is proudly half-indian and pretends to be deaf and dumb. By pretending to be a mute, he learns things that he would not be able to otherwise. He believes himself to be weak and small, even though he is a very large man. Because he believes this, this is how he is seen by others.
The very first time there is a mention of Nurse Ratched is when she enters the ward with a "gust of cold"(10). This is a sign of her personality. Within the first few pages of her entering the novel, we see her exhibit her truly hideous personality when she gets angry at the black men. But then she goes back to her facade when she when the patients start to emerge.
Mcmurphy provides immediate relief when he enters the novel, as he is immediately loud and has boisterous laughter. He also seems confident and does not seem to worry that he is in a mental institution. He also makes some sexual remarks which just make him seem even more confident.
Kesey uses Chief as the narrator because he is seen as deaf and dumb. Because he is seen like this, he is able to be almost all-knowing because the other characters are not afraid to converse around him.
Nurse Ratched put this "log book" out by her station for the acute. What the Acute will do, is whenever one of them says something revealing about themselves they will run and try to be the first to put their name in it. The first person to put their name in the log book will get to sleep in later the next day.
It tells me that the intstitution is rather corrupt. It also shows that Nurse Ratched is power hungry and will do whatever she thinks will make her have more power over the patients.
Chief is the narrator of the story. He is half Indian and he pretends to be deaf and mute. By doing this he learns mant secrets in the nistitution that he is in and he also is rarely noticed despite his large stature. He seems unhappy and depressed and doesn't seem to enjoy "this dirty life"(10).
Nurse Ratched is the head nurse of the institution. She is first described as entering with a "gust of cold"(10) which parallels her personality because she seems to always follow the rules and isvery exact. She also seems very mean and has a lot of pent up anger.
McMurphy enters the institution and seems very outgoing and boisterous. He is very sexual and confident and appears to have no worries or fears about his status as a patient in an institution.
Kesey uses Chief as the main character because he has the ability to observe almost everything and he can go more or less unnoticed because of the fact that people think that he is deaf and mute. He is the perfect observer to describe the events that go on within the institution.
The log book is used to allow the accutes(people who are cureable) to basically spy on other accutes in order to tell the nurses certain bits of information about other patients. The patients are rewarded if they are good spies and retrieve liots of information about other patients. This practice seems fairly corrupt and devious and it doesnt seem like it should be allowed in institutions such as this.
Cheif is narrating the story. He describes his fellings of when certain things happen to him. My understanding is that he does not like any of the "black boys"(9). I do not understand why Cheif is being so mistreated by others and nobody else is. Nobody seems to like the Cheif?
Everybody seems to be intimidated by Nurse Ratched. Everytime she comes into the room, everybody freezes. I am guessing that she is the head nurse because it seems to me that she runs the place around the institution.
McMurphy is a strage character. He says he is not crazy, but yet look at the place he is in. He does not have any care in the world and wants to be the one to run the place. He quotes "So you better take me to your leader and we'll get it straightened out who's gonna be boss around here"(23). He thinks he is better than everybody else there and that he can do whatever he wants.
I think that Kesey uses Cheif as the narrator becasue in the story he is supposed to be deaf and this may be a way to prove that Cheif is just as important to the story as the other characters. Or maybe because of his being deaf he is able to sit back and watch everything that goes on and can tell his side of the sory.
The purpose of the logbook is to keep notes about what is going on inside the institution. The log is probably kept for a patients rights. To see whether or not anyone has improved or not improved. If the institution is that bad of a place that they have to keep records of what they do everyday then maybe they need to change their routines a little to make it a better and safer environment.
Chief Bromden is the observer of the story because he pretends to be mute. He is constantly paranoid for the beginning of the story, like when he says "I'm not sure if it was one of those substitute machines" (13) He is nicknamed "Chief Broom" because he sweeps the halls and constantly has a broom in his hand.
Nurse Rachet is a power tripping manipulator who mentally tortures the patients. She in a way brings all of the patients to insanity.
McMurphy is the new guy who starts to shake things up upon his arrival. He is characterized by his large stature, scars, and bright red curly hair.
Chief is used as the narrator because he is very observant and although he does not speek to anyone he knows basically what all is going on. The view from inside his head provides a deeper look into the happenings inside the insane asylum.
The log book is a creation by Nurse Rachet to further manipulate and monitor the patients. She turns the patients into spies against each other. She rewards the patients, yet uses guilt and shame to break them back down again and put the under her control again.
-Ian
The narrator, Chief, is a very nervous kind of guy who really just likes to be left alone to do his work and observe. “… [T]hey think I’m deaf and dumb. Everybody thinks so. I’m cagey enough to fool them that much” (10). Pretending to be deaf and much makes for less trouble, and I believe that his doing so shows the characters need and want to be left alone without nuisance. Being as nervous as he is (his fears about machinery and tendency to act out around shower time,) shows how his stability may rely on the people around ignoring him.
The “Big Nurse” Nurse Ratched, is “soft,” “swift,” and “cold” (10). Her character is the kind that wont take sh** from anyone. She runs the institution where Chief is held, and gets a lot of information through bribing her patients. I believe this shows her hard character and power and control over the facility.
McMurphy is the newest “admission” to this institution that does not necessarily believe he is crazy and would like to be boss even if he is. “I’m accustomed to being top man. I been a bull goose catskinner…gambler…[and] even [a] bull goose pea weeder… so I figure if I’m bound to be a loony, then I’m bound to be a stompdown dadgum good one” (24). He is very insistent about becoming the leader of anywhere he goes which shows his persistent, strong, and a bit overpowering character.
I believe that Kesey uses chief as the narrator because of his observatory manner. Not being involved and just watching things as they happen gives him an objective point of view, and people believing that he is a deaf mute makes it so they are unafraid to speak around him. He has had the most experience at the institution and pretty much knows everything there is to know about the place and the patients inside.
The log book seems to be a way for Nurse Ratched to gain information that she would not necessarily know, to gain more control over the facility. Encouraging the patients to spy and rat on one another shows a corrupt institution that does not exactly do its best to make the patients better. It seems that the nurse would rather have complete knowledge and control than focus on healing the minds of the inhabitants.
I was not sure if you just automatically expected us to have a line from the reading in mind…but just in case…
On page thirteen in the very last paragraph the narrator states, “But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen.” I found the entire paragraph interesting because of the way he addressed the reader and how is character seemed to change, but this line really stood out to me not only because of the oxymoron quality, but there seemed to be a possible deeper meaning to what he said even if I don’t know what it is yet.
Chief has an unassuming character that plays that part of narrator. He tries to blend into the walls as people walk by the avoid contact with the hate. He pretends to be deaf and dumb and therefor seems week and unintelligent.
Nurse Ratchet has a hard and demanding character. She wants everything to go her way. She hand picks her staff very specifically so that they do things exactly as she says. She initially comes off to be nice and smiling, but then her more hideous and cold inner personality starts to show.
McMurphy is the new man on the block. He has come from the “outside” and has never been in a mental institution before. His confidence causes a glitch in the program that Nurse Ratchet has been trying to hard to keep clean. He breaks the rules and has an air of arrogance around him.
Ken Kesey uses Chief as the narrator because “they don’t bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I’m nearby because they think I’m deaf and dumb”(10). The idea that Chief is able to get inside the world of the people who work at the institution, through their ignorance, and ability to see inside the lives of the patients makes him the perfect character to tell the story. Chief has also been at the institution the longest of all the people their so he can tell everyone’s whole story.
The Log Book is Nurse Ratchet’s way of keeping an eye on everything even while she isn’t around. She has more eyes than her own and her staff, because she can get the patients to spy on each other. The Log Book allows her to remember things and learn things about people that she otherwise would have forgotten or never found out. The Log Book shows how corrupt the facility is, and how much it can work against the patients and turn them against each other.
--Emily
Chief Bromden has been a long-term patient in a psychiatric ward. He narrates the events of the novel and does so quite well because he pretends to be deaf and dumb so no one pays him much mind despite his six foot seven inch stature.
Nure Ratched is the head nurse in charge of the psychiatric ward. “Her face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll, skin like flesh-colored enamel…” (11) She is a very two-faced individual that smiles one second but lashes out the next.
McMurphy is a new patient who arrives at the ward. His brassy voice and his confident walk precede his appearance. He swaggers around the ward in his work-farm clothes and introduces himself has a gambling fool.
Kesey uses Chief as the narrator because he knows all of the secrets that the ward has to offer because everyone thinks him to be deaf.
The logbook is used to let the Acutes spy on other patients in order to tell the nurse any personal incriminating details that they find out. This is very corrupt because it just turns all of the patients against one another and gives the head nurse more power than she already has.
Chief is the narrator of the story and pretends to be deaf and dumb. He chooses to be this way for many reasons. For example, it allows him to learn a lot about other people around him. If he doesn't talk, he doesn't have to deal with much.
Nurse Ratched is a cold, to-the-point person. She is the one in charge and she likes authority. She is not one to be messed with.
McMurphy changes thing up at the hospital and it completely different. He is macho and sure of himself.
Chief is the narrator because of his personality. He doesn't talk and he consumes everything, which makes him the most knowledgeable and able to tell the story.
The log book is for Nurse Ratched's power-hungry ways to be satisfied. She needs to know everything that goes on around the ward. It also allows the patience to play little games with each other, which is a negative thing to have going on.
Chief is a pretend deaf mute. He seems to know that by pretending to be that he is left alone, which he prefers, yet he can be sneaky and learn things about the ward and it's staff and patients, that he wouldn't otherwise. This shows that he is smart and shows that in some ways he is sane.
Nurse Rachet is a manipulative control freak. She puts on a fake concern to look good to the typical outsider, but it is obvious to the patients and myself that she is a cold woman, who really doesn't care for there well being. She simply wants to create her own perfect world that she completely controls.
McMurphy creates quite the buzz at the ward when first admitted, and I assume he will keep doing so. He is lively and for the most part seems quite sane. He is slightly on the daring side and could be a trouble maker. He likes attention and has qualities of a leader, someone people would follow.
I believe Kesey uses the characcted of Chief as the narrator because he has the most knowledge of the history of the ward. The fact that he pretends to be a deaf mute also allows him to find out secrets and observe things that aren't expected. He also seems to be of a special sort, he's not really categorized in one of the groups. He stands out. The Log Book is a tool the Big Nurse uses to find out any bit of information she can about the patients by bribing anyone who writes in it with the priveledge to sleep in. This shows her determination to know all, and control everything, as well as the way she manipulates the patients.
Chief seems paranoid, but never strays from his sweeping. Although Chief pretends to be deaf, he actually has a hand in everything that goes on in the ward. I think Chief is very wise, after all, he has been at the ward the longest.
Nurse Ratched is a cold woman. She has total control over everything in the hospital. Her assistants are also a sign of how terrible of a person she is. Ratched is very strict, and sticks to all the rules.
McMurphy is new to the hospital. Although he's new, McMurphy walks and talks like he owns the whole ward. Additionally, McMurphy does not comply with Ratched and I foresee confrontation between the two.
Kesey uses Chief as the narrator because he is the eldest at the institution. Moreover, Chief is the wisest becaue since he plays deaf and dumb, he merely listens to everyone and takes everything in.
The log book is an invention of Nurse Ratched. She uses the book to monitor her patients. The patients face a difficult situation in the ward, because Ratched offers a reward for patients to spy on each other. This evil scheme breaks some patients down while building others up with a false sense of accomplishment.
Nurse Ratched was said to only have one feminine feature to as described in the book as if in everyway she handles things she is a cold hearted manly figure who runs a bunch of big black men, showing the way she runs things.
Cheif kinda is a man who wants to know everything he made it seem as if he was deaf and mute that way he is left alone and not minded as much. He is a smart man.
McMurphy is a very in-charge all the time kinda man. The first day he arrives at the hospital, he defies authority by not getting rinsed off and having the thermometer used on him. This foreshadows right away that he is going to mix things up a bit in the hospital.
Kesey used Cheif as the main character cause everyone over looks him by the main reason that they think he's deaf and mute, so he is the knowledgable in the hospital and should be the one telling the story of McMurphy.
The Log Book showed to be were Ratched has a hold on all the patients and rewards them when they tattle on each other. It shows how much power she actually has over the patients as well as the hospital in itself.
Nurse Ratched is strong willed, dertermined and in total controll. She has this unique way of using her calm and collected way of speaking to manipulate the patients and others. She seems smily and cool, but at the same time she doesn't act like the patients are even a concern to her, except that they do everything on her schedule just as she likes it."Precise, automatic gesture. Her face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made..."(11)This kind of shows how her character is all about order and strict.
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Chief is shy and keeps totally to himself. He goes around doing his chores innocently, but at the same time he is listening and watching everything that occurs at the hospital. "They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I'm nearby..."(10). Chief acts dumb and deaf and in return he is looked over and unnoticed, therefore left alone.
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McMurphy in new on the ward.He is total chaos in Mrs. Ratched's perfect structure. The man is loud, abnoxious, oppinionated, and likes to gamble a lot. He rebels against everything Mrs. Ratched tries to do. On page 17 it says' "He winks and sings a little piece of a song...'I came to this establishment for, to bring you birds fun an entertaimnet around the gamblin table." This shows how much trouble he is going to cause.
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Kesey uses Chief because he is the best observer in the story. Everyone acts as if he isn't even there most of the time so he is able to slip in and out of everywhere without hardly being noticed. This allows him to know almost everything that goes on in ward.
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The log book is there so that when patients learn something certain things about other patients they can report it. In return they are rewarded for spying and telling on their fellow comrads. The Big Nurse uses these little bits against the patients in meetings as a way of belittling them and turning others against them.
This tells me that the nurse is power hungry and that she likes having control of the patients. THings are not being run like they should. They are corrupt and sometimes crude ways of dealing with issues in the hospital.
Chief Bromden is very large and pretends to be both deaf and dumb. He narrates the story form his unnoticed forgotten position. He seems to know everything that goes on in the institution.
Nurse Rachet plays the roll of the cold and bossy head nurse. He dark side is displayed by her swagger when “she slides through the door with a gust of cold”. At one moment she is all smiles but turns to ice the next.
McMurphy is the alpha male of the institution. The moment he walks through the door he acts like he practically owns the place. This bothers Nurse Rachet because her well oiled machine starts to malfunction.
Chief sees and hears all. Pretending to be deaf allows others to talk about private things in front of him like he is not there. Thus he can tell the story from all sides.
The logbook is Nurse Rachets terrible way of collecting information. By creating the logbook she is also creating enemies throughout the ward. She sends out the wrong message by rewarding her patients if the nark on one another.
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